DOT: Kicking Out Metro-North Isn't Practical

State DOT doesn't support Fairfield County effort to seek bids for running commuter rail

HARTFORD — Despite continuing frustration by some commuters and many Fairfield County lawmakers, the state can't simply replace Metro-North as its commuter train operator, state Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said Wednesday.

"The New Haven Line is the busiest rail line in the country," Redeker told the General Assembly's transportation committee. "It's probably the most complex [commuter rail] service in the whole country. We have to be very cautious and careful."

Numerous legislators from southwestern Connecticut communities say their constituents are unhappy with slow, unreliable service from Metro-North, and are eager to see the state look for a different contractor to run the New Haven Line and its three branches.

Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, and Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, have both introduced bills that would force the state Department of Transportation to put the contract out for competitive bids. Connecticut is midway through a 60-year contract, and 2015 is one of the designated renewal points where either party can seek changes, Boucher said.

"I fear, too often, over the last several years, everyone at our [transportation] department has been afraid to touch this," Boucher said. "That's a very defensive position to take."

The proposal came out just two days after a Metro-North crash in Valhalla, N.Y., that killed six people.

Esty...

Saying it ignores vital safety issues, U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District., on Friday criticized the draft of a passenger rail bill that a Congressional committee issued this week.

The proposal came out just two days after a Metro-North crash in Valhalla, N.Y., that killed six people.

Esty...

(DON STACOM)

But at a committee hearing Wednesday afternoon, Redeker said that reopening the contract isn't wise at this point, and that simply replacing Metro-North isn't practical.

Metro-North employs hundreds of conductors, engineers, signal and track maintainers, electricians and other workers, along with a team of supervisors and senior managers to oversee operations of the New Haven Line and the Waterbury, Danbury and New Canaan branches, Redeker said. There's no company in the country with the staffing and technical skills to take over that operation, he said.

As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metro-North also operates tracks, power systems and trains between the Greenwich border and Grand Central Terminal in New York. Any new contractor would have to work with Metro-North so that trains could make the entire run between New Haven and Grand Central.

In the sea of New York City commuters rushing through Grand Central Terminal at the end of the day, they were just five faces among the thousands.

Three worked in finance, one worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the fifth was a research scientist working in chemistry. They took the train...

(KELLY GLISTA)

Redeker warned that when Connecticut pushed to change the contract in the late 1990s, it lost the arbitration case and now pays millions of dollars a year extra to the MTA.

"Were not averse at looking at the contract, we're just very careful," he said. "We have to know how to win and come out ahead. When we didn't, we lost."

Boucher and others say Connecticut is paying more than $70 million a year to Metro-North to run trains on Connecticut-owned tracks with no power to punish poor performance. Privately, some lawmakers say Redeker and his predecessors were far too easygoing with the railroad's previous administration, minimizing two years of Metro-North management blunders, operational miscues, recurring delays, secrecy and an arrogant attitude toward commuters.

Redeker said that relations with new President Joseph Giulietti are strong, and that Metro-North is making progress toward reliable on-time performance.

Nevertheless, Redeker said the competitive bidding process to operate the new Springfield-to-New Haven commuter service will give his agency the basis for potentially renegotiating sections of the Metro-North contract in the future. Springfield-to-New Haven, known as the Hartford Line, will be a vastly smaller, simpler operation, so Connecticut is seeking bids from various operators.

Private companies have won contracts to run Massachusetts' commuter rail lines, as well as large transit bus operations in several big cities. Redeker said the Hartford Line would be a manageable size for such companies, so competitive bidding is sensible. The state has solicited proposals from qualified operators, and is expected to choose one this year so that service can begin in late 2016.

It's unknown whether Metro-North or Amtrak are seeking to run the service.

"I'm agnostic about who operates the New Haven to Springfield service. I want to have the best provider with the best service at the lowest cost to the taxpayers," Redeker said. "There are multiple other operators that have the capacity to do that level of service."

Boucher has emphasized that putting the Metro-North job out to bid wouldn't necessarily result in getting a new contractor, but would force Metro-North to aggressively improve operations before pitching its services to the state.